“Will the Supreme Court Use a Louisiana Case to Gut the Voting Rights Act?”

October 14, 2025, 7:53 amUncategorizedVoting Rights Act; Section 2Spencer Overton

NYT: …Election law experts, civil rights groups and politicians are watching Wednesday’s case closely because of the immediate, enormous impact it could have on local, state and federal districts…. “You’re going to essentially cast doubt on dozens of congressional… Continue reading

“A dive into Justice Kennedy’s new memoir”

October 14, 2025, 7:51 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

SCOTUSblog: Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy’s memoir, Life, Law and Liberty, comes out today, Oct. 14…. Throughout his time on the court, Kennedy wrote some of its most important cases. In the book he discusses several of these.… Continue reading

“AI content proliferates in Hungary ahead of next year’s elections”

October 14, 2025, 7:50 amUncategorizedAISpencer Overton

Indiana Gazette Online: A video of Hungarian soldiers going off to fight in Ukraine and returning home in caskets is just one of many AI-generated posts that have appeared on Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s social media accounts ahead of… Continue reading

Kerrel Murray: False Conflict: Colorblindness and Section Two of the Voting Rights Act

October 14, 2025, 7:45 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Kerrel Murray: Just in time for this week’s reargument of Louisiana v. Callais, I’ve posted to SSRN a draft of my latest Article, False Conflict: Colorblindness and Section Two of the Voting … Continue reading

Callais, originalism, and stare decisis

October 14, 2025, 7:25 amUncategorizedNed Foley

I have a new Justice, Democracy, and Law column on SCOTUSblog. In advance of tomorrow’s argument in the huge Voting Rights Act case Louisiana v. Callais, I consider how principles of originalism and respect for precedent apply to the question… Continue reading

Fusion Voting Before the NJ Supreme Court

October 14, 2025, 4:51 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

In New Jersey, a new political party called the Moderate Party is challenging the state’s ban on fusion voting. The New Jersey Supreme Court is currently considering whether to hear this challenge. The bipartisan ABA Task Force on American Democracy,… Continue reading

Grateful to Manage ELB for 2 Weeks

October 13, 2025, 7:58 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Many thanks to Rick Hasen for inviting me to manage the Election Law Blog over the next two weeks. It’s an honor to help steward this indispensable forum for election law scholars, practitioners, and advocates—especially during such a pivotal moment… Continue reading

“Final arguments heard in Texas redistricting trial”

October 13, 2025, 7:52 amUncategorizedredistricting, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

ABC27 EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The fate of five congressional districts redrawn by Texas to ensure Republicans retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026 is now in the hands of three judges. Representatives of civil… Continue reading

“Supreme Court takes up Republican attack on Voting Rights Act in case over Black representation”

October 13, 2025, 7:47 amUncategorizedRedistricting; Louisiana, Section 2, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

Associated Press: WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican attack on a core provision of the Voting Rights Act that is designed to protect racial minorities comes to the Supreme Court this week, more than a decade after the… Continue reading

“Congress is losing its grip on the power to spend Americans’ money”

October 13, 2025, 7:34 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

WaPo: There are really three political parties in Washington, according to an old saying: Democrats, Republicans and appropriators. The latter aremembers of Congress lucky enough to get placed on the powerful committees that dole out roughly $1.6 trillion in federal… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of My Keynote Address at the University of Oregon, “The Past, Present, and Future of the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court”

October 13, 2025, 7:27 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I was pleased to be part of the O’Connell conference at the University of Oregon School of Law in September. Here is video of my keynote address:

“America’s Election Expert Finds Answers Down Under”

October 13, 2025, 6:40 amUncategorizedNed Foley

During my visit to Australia, I was a guest on an episode of the Presidential Upending! podcast hosted by professors Claire Corbould and Zim Nwokora of Deakin University. I really enjoyed this wide-ranging conversation. Spending time in Australia allows one… Continue reading

NYT Features Caleb Nelson’s Essay for NYU’s Democracy Project

October 13, 2025, 6:07 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Adam Liptak’s article in today’s NYT feature this essay that Caleb Nelson wrote for NYU’s Democracy Project series of 100 essays in 100 days. The title and subtitle of the article are Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power… Continue reading

How I Expect the Supreme Court to Kill Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Callais (If It Does So): Not By Direct Overruling but By Pretending They Are Simply Reinterpreting the Meaning of Section 2

October 12, 2025, 11:07 amchicanery, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I’ve written of good reason to believe the Supreme Court is going to sap Section 2 of its power in the Louisiana v. Callais case, being argued on Wednesday. I won’t rehash those arguments here. Instead I want to ask… Continue reading